Sharks-Canucks Preview

After letting up a 3-0 series lead to the Red Wings, the San Jose Sharks shook off the demons and beat the Red Wings 3-2 in game seven. Patrick Marleau got his first point of the series as he pushed a rebound into the net with less than 8 minutes to play to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. It was a great response for Marleau after all the blame that was thrown on his shoulders by Jeremy Roenick and other NHL analysts.

Coach Todd McClellan was excited to see Marleau step up when it mattered most for the Sharks…

“For him to end up with the winning goal was pretty special for our team and for him…I think the monkey may be off his back for the next series. … He was a difference maker tonight.”

The Sharks held on despite a quick response from the Wings in the form of a RIDICULOUS backhand from Pavel Datsyuk.

Next Up:

The Sharks will take on the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Finals starting tonight in Vancouver. The 1-seed was pushed to the limit in the first round by the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, before defeating the Nashville Predators in 6. Twin brothers, Daniel and Henrik Sedin lead the way for the Canucks. The two brothers were the last two NHL scoring title winners, while Henrik won the honors for NHL MVP last season. Daniel is a finalist for this year’s award.

As for the Sharks, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau will hope to continue to prove their doubters wrong and push the Sharks into the Stanley Cup Finals. Hockey gurus continue to blame past postseason failures for the Sharks on their shoulders and they are the leaders of the team, but hopefully this will be the year that Captain Joe and Marleau shut up the haters. Marleau had this to say…

“The only way you get rid of that is to move on. It would be nice, you put in a lot of sweat and everything, to get a little bit of recognition.”

Prediction: Suck it Roenick…Sharks in 6. I think our boys will be able to carry the momentum from the tough series against the Wings and play well on the road in games 1 and 2. The two teams split the season series at 2 games apiece, but I believe that if we are able to take one in Vancouver early, the series will favor us when we come back to the Shark Tank in San Jose.

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